Canadian University Scientific Research Organizations

Canadian University Scientific Research Organizations

Expenditures by Canadian universities on scientific research and development accounted for about 40% of all spending on scientific research and development in Canada in 2006.

Research in the natural and social sciences in Canada, with a few important exceptions, is almost exclusively funded by the Canadian taxpayer and is distributed to universities by five important federal funding agencies, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). Additional monies are also provided by the Canada Research Chairs organization which provides financing for the staffing of research personnel at Canadian universities and the Canada Foundation for Innovation which supports the acquisition of scientific research infrastructure by Canadian universities, colleges, research hospitals, and non-profit research institutions.

In 2006 total spending on scientific and industrial research in Canada amounted to C$28.067 billion or about 2 percent of GDP. In 2006 Canadian universities spent C$10.890 billion on research and development, representing about 40 percent of all R&D spending in Canada and about .66 percent of Canada's GDP.

Below are the names of those university institutions that carry out both natural and social science research, although the emphasis here is on the former. The largest part of funding from NSERC, is received by 15 universities, not surprisingly the largest in the country, which have formed an association named the U15. The list below ranks the members of this group in order of NSERC grant size. A number of thematically specialized virtual university research organizations, the Networks of Excellence, have been established and are listed here. Also included are the names of some particular research organizations and projects notable for their large size or for other characteristics. This is followed by a brief description of the expenditures on scientific research and development by sector. Finally the list includes those support organizations that fund scientific research at the university level or contribute to its success in other ways.